wpsmedia - 2010.02.16 Meeting

District Media
Feb 16, 2010 12 - 4 pm
WHS Media Center (Note location)
Facilitator - Jenn
Snacks - Judy St. Cyr
Notetaker - Linda Gibbons
Attendees -All Media Specialists & Wade Phillips
Please read - agenda and fill in your areas before discussion - non-fiction feedback & ID's
Please bring - laptop

Agenda Items -

Community Builder	Wade	15 min.
Review of Norms	Jenn	30 min
Safe Communication	Jenn/Groups	30 min.
Meeting Purpose	Tina	15 min.
Curriculum Review	Judith St. Cyr	15 min.
Non-Fiction	Jim P.	30 min.
Student IDs	Jim P.	15 min.
Microsoft Transition	Wade	30 min.
CCC Transition	Wade	30 min.
Reflection/Agenda for May Meeting	Jenn	30 min.

1. Community Builder

2. Review of edited group norms (Please take a look at the compiled group norms before the meeting)

Discussion:Who will keep us on task? If conversations are too long, if we are at an impass, who will say it's time to move on? Do we want a timekeeper and rotate the job? The purpose is to stay on task and stay on time. Should we defer to the facilitator?
Agenda will be sent out earlier (5 days prior to the meeting) so we have time to preread or prepare. Agenda items have to be submitted prior to the agenda deadline and we need to know who to send them to.
If there are too many agenda items the facilitator will decide which will be on the agenda and which will be moved to the next meeting.
Conclusions: The facilitator will keep us on task and on time. Norms are accepted by the group.
Action Items: Person Responsible: Deadline:

3. Helping each other stick to the norms - create 2 statements that allow for a safe way to communicate the adherence to the group norms.

Discussion: Discussion at tables - Side conversations are not acceptable We need to get back on task, We need to take a timeout,
with heated conversations go around and do a check in, give time to reflect and write down thoughts, give everyone a chance to share but with time limits, facilatator paraphrases what is being said,
Signal for someone dominating, signal for questionable comment, signal for moving on,
Who is responsible? All of us. Maybe for some discussions we need to have a mediator,
Consensus - allows for everybody to be heard, majority rules does not allow for everyone being heard.
Check for understanding Decision making will happen by consensus, everyone comes to an agreement, argue until someone capitulates.We walk out with a decision that we all support. If there is not a consensus the topic will be tabled until later.
Conclusions: We will continue to make decisions by consensus.
Action Items: Person Responsible: Deadline:

4. Purpose of Meeting - Why do we meet on a reoccurring basis?

Discussion:
Purpose could change at the beginning of every school year. Use the same phrases as the rest of the district " We are a Learning Team"
We are a learning team across grade levels and up through the grade levels, each level supports the other, we are all connected. We are the fulcrum to the curriculum and people across the district.
Three catagories : sharing, learning & leading. We use our time to figure out what our presence in the district is.
Preface the purpose with "As a learning team we meet to:collaborate, share, grow, plan, bond"
As a Learning Team we meet to:share, learn, grow, learn, connect, collaborate, bond, plan, lead
Conclusions: Wade, TIna and Jenn will tweek this and then we will revisit this.
Action Items: Person Responsible: Wade, Jenn, Tina
Deadline:?

5. Curriculum review cycle

Discussion:When has there been a three year review cycle for Media? As far as anyone in the group knows there has never been one. On the C&I page there is no resource person for Media.
WHat would the purpose be? Consistancy across the schools, what is covered and when. Alice has created her own curriculum but that is not the way it should be. Media doesn't have a curriculum, the media curriculum is across all areas, technology is given a full review cycle,
Media and technology cross over and should be reviewed together, media person should be on each curriculum committee, tech curriculum review is focused on integration and will include media, has not historically been a mesh between Media and Technology curriculums, we need curriculum mapping so we can scaffold and build on. There is no media curriculum that we can go out and purchase, why can't we be leaders and create a media curriculum. We have brought in media curricula from other districts, Robbinsdale has done Media and Technology together and it meshed beautifully. Media rep input on committees has not been listened to by C&I.
Have to keep in mind that elementary has a set time to teach a Media curriculum, hang up for secondary is that there is no regularly scheduled media time to teach this.
Conclusions:Discussion will continue on the Wiki, at the next meeting we will take a look at what the Technology Curriculum Review committee has done.
Action Items: Person Responsible: Linda, Judy, Tina Deadline:

6. Non-Fiction Discussion

Discussion:This whole topic fits into our curriculum review discussion. Be sure to read everyone's comments.
Conclusions:
Action Items: Person Responsible: Deadline:

Jim would like your feedback to the following questions. Please add your comments before our meeting.

1. What is the state of our district non-fiction collections?

GW - Most areas weeded in the last 6 yrs, but now its time to start again.
BV- Pretty well weeded, but in need of more to keep up with student interest and projects.
GL- I weeded heavily all nonfiction and reference books in the past 3 year.s Now I'm weeding as I'm fixing cataloging and spine labels in my nonfiction section.
KL- We did a quick weeding of the section as a whole about 5-6 years ago because it had never been weeded. Our goal this year is to weed at least of 1/3 non-fiction and our fiction section.
PK- Needs a ton of weeding! Very old stuff and book condition is sad.
SH- I weeded heavily last year and got 1/2 way through our nonfiction section. I am sure I could probably spend 1/2 of my budget to update our country section alone.
OW-Some critical areas are up-to-date, (biographies, space, science in general), others are in need of weeding.
CMS-well weeded 2.5 years ago by Jim Peterson.
EMS- My non-fiction collection definitely does not meet the criteria that I would desire. But I work at it a little each year. However that will probably never get me caught up.
WMS- terrible at West. The average age was 1982 five years ago and heavy weeding has brought us to 1990. Pretty much every area needs even more extensive weeding. It's hard, though, to completely deplete the shelves when I know I don't have the budget to replenish them.
WHS-Three years ago I cleaned out the 50s, 60s and 70s. This week I finished cleaning out the 80s. I am keeping some older items with historical connection. I am keeping biographies as well. The shelves are really looking bare.

2. What percent of the building media budgets is going toward nonfiction?

GW - Also a guess 50% or more each year.
BV- Just a guess, but I think I do a little more than 1/2.
GL- I don't have an exact record. I probably spend half my money on nonfiction each year.
KL- Depending on the year, and the curriculum review cycle. We try to support the curriculum as much as we can afford to do. Most grade levels do not have text books so we try to provide as many resources as possible for the staff and students. I would say average is about 50%.
PK-Probably 1/2.
SH-Probably just under 1/2
OW-About 50%, mainly because nonfiction books are more expensive than fiction (I'm not nonprint in that)
CMS-estimate=25%
EMS- About 50% of the district budget. Any extra funds go to fiction only.
WMS- I try to do about 50%. I should do more in order to update the collection, but I feel I need to keep the fiction area current and well-stocked to keep these middle schoolers interested in reading for fun.
WHS- 75% if I include the database subscriptions.

3. What trends are being seen in the use and circulation of nonfiction?

GWYounger students tend to check out more nonfiction than fiction. From grade 3 on up it is about equal.
BV- I'd say that my circulation is half and half fiction and nonfiction.
GL- Nonfiction is heavily checked out in grades K-2. It's more by high interest areas for my 3-5 grades. All grades use nonfiction for research and themes.
KL- I have seen a rise is non-fiction going our younger students, publishers are publishing books at their level and interest. Since I have bee at our school we have increased the non-fiction for K-2 by 80% or more.
PK- The primary grades love nonfiction in certain topics and the intermediate grades are mostly fiction. All use nonfiction for research projects.
SH-Our teachers are starting the daily 5 where our 4th grade teachers are asking their students to checkout 1 nonfiction, 1 fiction, and 1 magazine. Our nonfiction circ has increased based on that. K and 1 LOVE nonfiction. After that, there is a strong push for fiction books for AR purposes and "series" reading.
OW-My nonfiction circulation is almost exactly the same as it was 10 years ago. I checked records for 1999, 2001, and 2009. Nonfiction circ was 35%, 33%, and 34% respectively.
CMS-More fiction circulates than nonfiction, except during research projects. Teachers request carts of relevant nonfiction. Students use print to begin research. Lots of activity in nonfiction used within the media center.
EMS- Certainly declining. But certain teachers still use the books especially if they can't get into the computer labs.
WMS- 6th grade still encourages book use. The other grades are less and less each year.
WHS- Less each year.

4. Which is better/worse, no books on a topic or books with outdated presentation and content?

GW - I agree with Jenn, for most topics no books is worse than outdated information. I have tried to remove any inaccurate or biased information without completely wiping out a topic.
BV- I think no books is worse. Kids surprise me with their interest in a "not pretty" book about a topic they like. Of course, the information must still be relevant. However, our hot topics like dogs and horses don't get out of date too quickly!
GL- I think it would be worse to have no books. I have many from the 80's and 90's that I have kept because of readability. Many topics don't have new books, or I want to have several on a topic and need to keep the old ones. I try to weed one old when I buy one new.
KL- It is a toss up, we have students that their parents do not allow them to use the internet at home. Some of our outdated books still have relevant information (history, geography etc.) but we have students who parents or grandparents have immigrated to this country and have been offended by inaccurate information on projects hanging in our hallways. With budget constraints we can't keep up with the materials needed especially in grade 4 with continent studies. Everyone of our staff requires print information, not just data base materials or internet.
PK-That's a tough one. we have some pretty dated material on the shelves (technology!) and the pictures are so irrelevant that it's useless for today. I'd rather weed that and have nothing on the shelf so the need for material is obvious.
SH- I agree with all of the elem statements so far. In many of my nonfiction areas, if I weeded like it should be weeded, I could essentially wipe out a section.
OW-It depends on the topic and what is currently available but I agree with Jenn. Some kids care whether a book is "pretty," others will read anything if it's the topic that interests them. So, as long as we aren't "misinforming," I will leave an old book on the shelf until I can replace it with a newer version on that topic.
CMS-Some students care about presentation. Others don't seem to notice. It is worse to have no books.
EMS- I would rather have dated material on relevant topics than nothing at all.
WMS- I'm torn on this. In theory, I'd say "no books" since old, unattractive books reinforce the idea that books are an outdated resource, but in reality I tend to keep those old books just so I have something on each topic.
WHS-I lean toward outdated being worse. Over the years I have seen students pull info from a book and not qualify it with the copyright date....in 1992 .... If the student and I can not find book content then I direct him to the databases/ebooks and Hennepin County. I would rather not direct students to dated materials.

5. As a group where do we see access to nonfiction materials going? databases, ebooks, virtual reference providers, maintaining a few topics so students can be exposed to nonfiction materials

GW At the elementary level print nonfiction is the way most students are going to access information. Culturegrams and World Book Online are used but not nearly as much as print.
BV- I'm learning that print nonfiction is still very vital through 5th grade. Especially for those kids at lower reading levels.
GL- I think that our students in K-5 are still heavy users of print. Kids are coming to the media center to use the books for reports more than they are using the computers and databases.
KL- For elementary, I feel we need both (heavier on print). Reports start as early as some of our Kindergarten students, they need print materials. Our 4 and 5th graders are the ones that use the databases the most, some of our third graders (even with lessons on Culture Grams and World Book). Students at elementary level do not like taking notes off the computer screen, they want to print off all the pages to read and highlight. Some students need to reread the material for it to make sense. Many students check out non-fiction for pleasure reading, they love to look at the pictures and along with the information.
PK-Nonfiction print is very portable for those kids who don't have a lot of access to computers and kids are very excited about the pictures and photographs in books. They will sit and look at them for a long time and it's much calmer for some kids than clicking on images all over the screen.
SH- Print continues to be the way to go for the younger grades and I am sensitive to our students who do not have computers/Internet access at home.
OW-I think children's nonfiction books are still popular and vital to our kids' learning. There is a tactile piece that is missing from online resources. There is also an organization and finite nature to nonfiction books that is helpful. Too much information can be a real handicap sometimes. Nonfiction children's books can be concise, accurate, well-organized, age-appropriate, and colorful. I read them myself when I need just enough info but don't want to get overwhelmed. NOTE: We frequently have OW employees whose kids are in middle and high school checking out our nonfiction books for their older kids' reports.
CMS-I have been concentrating on adding biographies, opposing viewpoints and art books because teachers of those subjects request print coverage. I agree with Jenn that challenged readers especially, even in middle school, want print resources. To make their topics more accessible, I am adding additional subject headings based upon failed searches.
EMS- I think that students who are more challenged (whether it be academically or due to a language barrier) benefit from having a book in hand.
WMS- Younger readers and less capable readers still benefit from the controlled levels of a book. Even the stronger readers often benefit from the format and organization of a print resource. I also think that non-fiction is a popular recreational reading choice for a lot of kids. This is why I would like to have newer and more attractive materials in all areas of the collection.
WHS- I would like to see access to a quality nonfiction collection direct from the media center. I like the partnership with Hennepin County but also want the school to be first access point for students since they are in the building. I would like to have print nonfiction but I can't have something on every possible topic. I would like to see a closer partnership with curriculum departments on some focus areas to make purchases in. I would also like to explore a Net Library account and begin developing an online collection of current materials. I think digital will be the way to go with more of my dollars. The Net Library available through ELM has not added new titles since 2005. The Gale Virtual Reference Collection is getting good use. I am not happy with some of the cataloging on nonfiction books. Some of the MARC records don't have enough contact points to connect with students search terms. Ebooks search by keywaords and seem to seach the entire title for connections.

GW Yes, it is taught at every grade level.
BV- Absolutely! These are skills that are taught overtly in all grades and are tested on standardized testing.
GL-
KL- Yes, we teach these skills in media and in the language arts series. Students are also tested on these in language arts and standardize testing.
PK-YES! I'm thick into that with second graders right now and all grades have worked on it this year.
SH-YES! I agree with all elem statements!
OW-Of course!
CMS-We do for 6th and 7th graders beginning research projects and for all as the curriculum connections occur.
EMS- I touch on it with the whole group and do it all the time with individual students.
WMS- 6th and 7th grade go over indexes and table of contents as an introduction to their major research projects and I reinforce this when I present a cart of books to a class prior to a research unit.
WHS-Teachers assume the students know it. I find some of the 10th and 11th grade students don't remember the index in the back of the book for their key words.

GW - I agree that it is hard for elementary students to pull out what they need from electronic sources.
BV- Not sure I have enough experience to make a fair comparison... I do know that our 3rd and 4th graders have a hard time pulling information from internet resources.
GL-
KL- It depends on the source, some have not enough and others overwhelming amounts of information.
PK-I did this with 3rd and 5th graders this year and the amount of info online overwhelms them. There is plenty of information, but it is not necessarily found in a linear fashion - from front cover to back cover like a book.
SH-We need a balance of both. Sometimes students are so excited by what they find online that they become sidetracked and can waste a lot of their worktime (that goes for me too!).
OW-Naturally it depends on the resource and one can't generalize. Sometimes "depth" can mean too much information though.
CMS-Sometimes but many students are not able to dig for them and to filter out the irrelevant. Information overload (too many choices) is a problem when there is limited computer time available.
EMS- For middle school the depth is limited both in the books and the online material that they can digest.
WMS- The depth is there, but the students aren't good at filtering it out. Sometimes the reading level is too high and sometimes the layout of the website is not helpful. I've been buying "down" in my non-fiction print in order to get books that are formatted in a easy-to-use fashion. I can't control that with electronic sources, so the students often just scroll aimlessly up and down a page until an adult comes by and points out the relevant stuff.
WHS-I am finding nonfiction books and ebooks have good depth. The database content is also good. My concert is with surfing web pages for use in reports. Students are good at surfing to get enough sources. I think every teacher needs to add a source structure piece directing students to depth.--not just x number of sources but suggesting types.

No, it is not dead but it is expensive.
BV- Absolutely not!
GL-
KL- NO
PK-NO!! We need funds to update and keep the info current at all the schools.
SH- NO
OW-No
CMS-NO!
EMS- No
WMS- no
WHS-I don't think it is either but it is getting increasingly expensive. It seems like the average nonfiction title is around $32.00. I need 6 kids to purchase one title. An ebook version should give me more "touches" becasue of the 24/7/365 availability.

BV-
GL-
KL- Currently I use the Hennepin Country Library, teachers in my building also use it. Especially for younger students, ELL, special education students, and struggling readers. I created a brochure for that went home to parents with a list of our school sources and passwords for home access.
PK-
SH- It would be nice to have extra funds for the Playaways (portable electronic books) and replacement buds. I simply don't have that type of $ in my bulding budget.
OW-
CMS-Let's provide each middle school student with a wireless laptop (netbook?) and try ebooks. So far, most of the titles we think we need for Central students are not offered electronically. The format must not drive which content we use.
EMS-
WMS-
WHS-I think we are very fortunate to live in Minnesota. I continue to be amazed at the resources provided by the state throught the ELM contract. I also direct students to Hennepin counties databases. Some are duplicates with ELM but many are unique and are available through Hennepin County taxpayers. I purchase subscriptions to a few databases to make sure there is easy access to content for students. I have a nice Gale Virtual Reference collection started 35 titles but am ready to branch out to individual titles--virtual library.

GW - Most of my teachers check out nonfiction materials from the Media Center. I tell them to let me know where I need to beef up the collection in nonfiction.
BV- We check stacks of books out to classrooms each week. Teachers also have books in their classrooms and use the HCL.
GL-
KL- They check out materials from the library and they have leveled readers with the language arts series. Literacy specialist have some books, but they ask for help with materials all the time for students.
PK-The media center...if we have it. My priority in ordering books is in areas where the teachers need resources. Often the public library is an option for additional material.
SH- I am not sure. I don't see a ton of teachers coming in the media center for nonfiction books. Looks like I need to look into that..
OW-Sometimes the students come in for individual books and I might do a book talk for them to get them started (e.g. 5th grade biography projects.) Other times, we send an entire cart of books to the classroom (e.g. 4th grade country research.)
CMS-I will ask. What do you mean by "for reading instruction" in secondary (other than Read 180)?
EMS- 6th grade has used books from the media center to show types of non-fiction and various aspects of non-fiction (timeline, etc.). The 6th grade reading curriculum also has non-fiction books that come with the curriculum- one about the Terracota Warriors in Chinese history.
WMS- I think this gets pushed during "test prep" season. Our language arts teachers use pre-selected hand-outs from anthologies, magazines, newspapers, etc. Reading instruction as a content area isn't taught formally at middle school unless the student is in Read 180.
WHS-I don't see many nonfiction checkouts for pleasure. Nonfiction checkouts are mainly connected to assignments. I am amazed at the end of each month to look at the usage statistics for the databases.

Note: We can actually check this right at the meeting as it's all set up in the Back Office in Destiny!
Will need to be after 3:30--this report is locked from 7:30-3:30 daily. JP

Student IDs: Discussion: Lifetouch information comes from Skyward. Need to be sure that all information is up to date before Lifetouch comes into a building. Fran Wilkie is the connection to Lifetouch and making sure that all information is correct.

Please give your feedback to the following questions.

GW - We use them for checkout and keep them in the Media Center in a 3 ring binder.
BV- Our students don't have them.
GL- We don't have them.
KL- We use them for book checkout.
PK- we use them for book checkout.
SH- We don't have them.
OW-We don't use them.
CMS-Unclear what you mean.
EMS- ?
WMS- We use them for book check-out if the students have them. Most don't - they lose them. They are also required for dances (but not enforced since we are a small enough school that at least one of the chaperones recognizes every kid) and the YMCA Activity night.
WHS-IDs are used for athletic event entrance, dance ticket purchase, yearbook pickup, after school media center entrance. Would like to see ids visable on students during the day.

GW - Every year when we get new cards from Lifetouch there are a handful that won't scan because of inaccurate numbers. We print a new label and put it over the barcode.
BV- NA
GL-
KL-
PK-
SH-
OW-At OW we don't use cards of any type (that I'm aware of.)
CMS- 1. Most students don't carry their cards. 2. Therefore the system defaults to recognize last name. To read a barcode, the page must be reset to barcode. The reader works, if the person at the desk remembers to reset the box. 3. We have one very old scanner which often requires several swipes before it recognizes a barcode.
EMS- When students provide a card I use it and it has always worked fine.
WMS- Works fine when they have it.
WHS-This year we have had seen several ids without bar codes. We have made a replacement without charge. What we are hearing is that LifeTouch may need to request a Skyward export before coming each time to make sure the student data is accurate. At the high school Life Touch comes three times per year.

Microsoft Transition Transitioning from Novell to Microsoft. Novell contract is up in July.
As a group we need to come up with questions that will need to be answered as we go through this process.
Can we meet during workshop week of school to be brought up to date on what is going on?
Computers will all be reimaged
May need to do some "Backup training" Tina will put up a "MS transition" page on the wiki.
Everything on the server will be moved.
iTunes is an example. Libraries will not be on new image. Purchases will need to be burned to CD before the end of the year.

CCC transition
Discussion - General feeling is that CCC is not worth the money. Either go forward next year with nothing or do a study to find out what else is available. The concept is valuable but CCC is not widely used.

Windows 2007 will be on all new computers. There will need to be training for staff.

Next steps - Next meeting is May 18 in the afternoon at EMS. Tina is the facilitator with Wade. Agenda items need to be added to the Wiki 5 days prior to the meeting.
Bring Laptops if possible.